


A Burning Sensation

by Whitehorse102



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Also I can't name children so forgive me, Be wary things will get scary, Holocaust, Holocaust in the Magical Community, How Do I Tag, I love to torture myself, Nurmengard, newtina, what else do i tag
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-20
Updated: 2017-04-05
Packaged: 2018-10-08 10:13:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10384371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whitehorse102/pseuds/Whitehorse102
Summary: The year is 1943. Tina Scamander and her husband Newt were just about to flee Poland when they came. They took Tina and stole her away in the dead of night, tearing her from her life and thrusting her into a concentration camp just for wizards. Gellert Grindelwald has revealed the magical community to a certain powerful, horrible Muggle, Adolf Hitler. Now, the race is on for Newt to find Tina, and for Tina to somehow escape and return to her little three month year old son and her husband, before Grindelwald finds her in his own, magical version of Hitler's killing camps.





	1. Seperated

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first story here! I love that I'm starting out with a multi chapter, angsty and horror-filled story. I promise I usually write more fluffy things, but there's something about this ship that makes me see endless angsty possibilities. I'm trying to be as real as possible with some of these events, as the Holocaust actually happened and the world still shivers with its affects. Please read with caution-I can't say how graphic things will get, but I promise I will tag anything I consider possibly triggering events right up here in the notes. Otherwise, please enjoy and remember, review! :D

They came in the night.  
    Before Newt could even properly wake up, he felt Tina be ripped from his embrace. He hadn’t even fallen asleep with his arms around her, but the sudden lack of her against his front left him gasping. His eyes shot open just in time to be blinded with a flash of light and a scream from his wife. He heard kicking and shouting, and from his nursery just next door Liam shrieked as well thanks to the sudden noises. Newt sat up just in time to met Tina’s eyes for a single second as she was dragged from the room, kicking and lashing out at her kidnappers.  
    “Tina!” Newt yelled. He jumped out of bed and summoned his wand with a flick of the wrist-a trick Tina had taught him just for situations just like this. He jumped off the bed and rushed after the attackers, stumbling slightly into the hallway and after his wife and her attackers.  
    One shot a spell over Tina’s head at him, but Newt rolled down to avoid it. Behind him, their bed set ablaze, fire crackling along the sheets as if it were paper.  
    “Let go of her!” Newt shouted. “Stupefy!” He shouted, managing to hit one of the men holding Tina’s left arm. He slumped, falling against the floorboards with a shout of surprise. There wasn’t room in the hallway, but that didn’t stop his wife. Tina was trained as an auror, and she showed her skills in a display of power. With a loud grunt, she pressed her feet up against the other wall and slammed her weight into the other man, sandwiching him with enough force to make even Newt wince. She jumped back to the floor and flipped him over her shoulder, landing with a knee on his chest, her breath ragged.  
    Newt rushed forward and put his wand over the man’s throat, right at his adam’s apple. The man swallowed and froze, putting his hands up. “Who are you?!” Newt demanded, the fear of what had almost happened to Tina quickly being replaced with rage over what had almost happened to Tina.  
    The man let out a low, devious chuckle. Before he could understand why, Tina had gasped and fallen over, her back steaming from where the stupefy had hit her, point blank.  
    “Tina!” Newt rushed to catch her, managing to slide over just in time for her head to fall on his knees. She shivered, her brown eyes wide and angry, her breath rapid.  
    Newt lifted his wand just in time to barely block another spell. It broke apart just in front of his face, temporarily blinding him with yellow light. Tina yelped as she was, quite literally, dragged from his lap.  
    “No!” Newt roared. He lunged forward, trying to grab Tina’s wrist. His fingers brushed over her skin but she slipped free before he could find a grip. He tried to look up and squinted, as his sight was blurry and almost everything was white.  
    He felt something heavy bash him on the head. He groaned, the world spinning in a million colors.  
    “Stay down.” The man who Tina had flipped snarled. A hard kick was delivered to Newt’s gut and he gasped, pain rocking him to the core.  
    “Better kill him, just in case.” Said another voice.  
    “Don’t touch him!” There was Tina’s voice, and a grunt of a man told Newt that his wife had managed to break through the stunning spell. She was good at that, having some wandless training. Tina often talked about how the Ministry should implore the same training as MACUSA. It wasn’t often that a witch or wizard found themselves wandless, but they were rendered nearly helpless if they ever were.  
    “Forget him, stop the bitch!” The second voice shouted.  
    Newt forced himself onto his elbows, coughing. The world was a mess around him. He was still half blind, his mouth tasted like blood, and his ears were ringing with the sounds of a fight and his newborn son’s cry. The floorboards bounced underneath them as the men ran down the hallway to the stairs.  
    His elbow slipped and he dropped to the floor again. Newt gritted his teeth and forced himself to rise. He heard a horrifying sound of a body rolling down stairs and worried it was Tina. He spat blood and made his legs work. He pulled himself up and leaned against the wall. He stumbled forward, eyes locked on the wooden ball indicating the start of the railing following the stairs.  
    Someone shouted. “Keep this up and we’ll set the house on fire, I swear!”  
    Adrenaline rushed through Newt and he managed to grasp the staircase. He blinked, hard. He managed to see his wife, one blot of color surrounded by a sea of men in black cloaks. She ducked and lashed out, but she wasn’t winning this fight. He needed to help. He raised his wand shakily, but a man suddenly turned to pointed his wand at him. “Avada Kedavra!” The man shouted.  
    “Newt!” Tina shrieked, her eyes terrified.  
    Newt lashed his wand out in self-defense. He managed a wordless spell, though which one it was he wasn’t sure. Blue light stretched out from his wand, gently at first, then it lunged as fast as a Nundu. It caught the tip of the green lightning of the Killing Curse, holding it in stalemate. The Unforgivable Curse arched and lashed out randomly, but it couldn’t escape the hold of Newt’s spell. Sparks flew and the smell of something burning infiltrated the room. Newt wasn't sure if it was the battle or the bed down the hall behind him.  
    Newt’s eyes glanced over towards Tina. Through the unnatural glow of the curse in his eyes and the battle between the spells, he just barely saw his wife suddenly crumple. Something had bashed her on the head.  
    “Tina!” Newt screeched. He jumped onto the railing, still holding the Killing Curse with his wand as he slid. He just barely managed to keep balance, the pressure of his spell pushing back the Killing Curse until Newt twirled his wand, managing to throw the combined spells into their couch. The couch flew into the far wall, but Newt had no care for it at the moment. He just barely managed to stay on the railing, as the man turned and ran after his comrades. Newt saw Tina’s bare feet be dragged out into the street.  
    The world both expanded and shrank as he followed outside. Their neighborhood was alive with screams of wives and children, shaking with the struggles of men. Newt saw muggles and wizards alike being shepherded with guns and wands into...well, Newt wasn’t sure what they were. They looked like out of context train carts. Boxcars, he remembered his friend Jacob calling them. The boxcars were all on wheels, tied to Jeeps. The boxes were shaking with people pounding on the walls, yelling things in all kinds of languages.  
    Newt saw Tina being dragged to one of those boxes. She was still awake, kicking and dragging her heels.  
    Newt staggered forward, his grip tight on his wand. He was suddenly roughly slammed in the side, and the sound of a gunshot blared through the night air. More followed like they were answering a call. Newt managed to get up just in time to see Tina lifted. Tina put her feet stubbornly against the edge of the box, refusing to go in. She leaned her weight back, but three men suddenly joined the one man. Against that much brute strength, Tina had to crumple. The left door was slammed shut, many people inside screaming. Tina’s eyes locked on his, just before the door shut on her and the car began to move away.  
    “No!” Newt howled. He flicked his wand and found himself clutching to the end of the box, having apparated. He ripped open the locked door and knelt to see inside. Tina was right in front of him. He reached to grab her, ready to apparate, when a shout reached his ears and a sharp pain landed on his shoulder.  
    Tina’s face was one of sheer horror, possibly one of Newts least favorite faces. She grasped Newt’s face and pressed her forehead to his, although Newt was barely aware of the feel of her fingers. “Protect Liam.” She ordered. Her voice was clear, although Newt saw blood rush down from her temple “Find Queenie. I love you.” She pressed her lips to his. It was a harsh kiss, Tina desperately trying to say a goodbye while Newt was trying to summon magic to his wand. It was odd, however. He felt the tingle in his pit of his stomach, the pull on his heart, the exertion. But he could not apparate. His plan was to teleport away with Tina’s lips holding his and her hands over his cheeks. Around him it felt as if the air was forming some sort of shield around him. The more he concentrated, the more his magic flowed into his wand. And the thicker and stronger the shield became.  
    Newt was grasped by rough hands and yanked off the boxcar. He was tossed to the ground, and he groaned. The pain in his shoulder amplified. Someone shouted at him in Germanic. He was kicked in the face, sending him rolling to the sound. He tasted blood and grass, and the world went completely white, then completely black. 

    Newt stirred to the sounds of crying. His heartbeat pounded in his ears, but the crying made him think of his son. Weakly, he tightened his grasp on his wand and managed to apparate.  
    He was back in his son’s bedroom. Liam was wailing, kicking and screaming. Newt’s entire body was alight with pain. He pulled himself to his son’s crib and managed to prop himself up against it. Tears filled his eyes at the sight of his-their son. With shaking hands, he let his wand fall and clatter against the ground. He pulled his son free from the crib and pulled him into his chest. Hot tears rolled down his face. His lips were quivering, but he gently rocked Liam. “Daddy’s here.” He breathed into their son’s ear. “Daddy’s here.”  
    The smell of fire made Newt look up. He remembered very belatedly that their bed was on fire, and the fire had only spread throughout the house. Newt grasped his wand again. He had to protect his son. “Hold on.” He murmured to Liam. He pulled magic to the tips of his fingers, channeling it through his wand and managing to apparate downstairs. He grasped his case by the handle, and opened it carefully. “Dougal!” He called, his voice echoing through the enlarged space.  
    The invisible monkey shook the ladder as he climbed, appearing just in front of Newt. Newt cautiously lowered Liam into his hands. “Please.” Newt begged the creature. “Watch him.”  
    Dougal’s eyes glowed blue with a vision, and then snapped back to orange. The monkey-like animal nodded and pulled Liam close, dropping to the ground with the easiest of grace. Dougal settled on the bed, rocking Liam back and forth. Newt closed the case and apparated once more, this time into their bedroom. He grabbed Tina’s wand from the bedside table, more tears leaking from his eyes as smoke rushed into them. He kept them shut and summoned the last bit of magic that he could.  
    Queenie and Jacob. He thought.  
    The world distorted around him, and then he was staring at a fireplace and a woman with golden curly hair, her back turned to him. She turned sharply, and her beautiful face widened with horror. “Newt!” She shouted.  
    Newt’s world listed. Her shouts for Jacob faded to an echo as he slipped to the side, holding his case close to him. Tina’s wand stayed tight in his fist while his own slipped free. It radiated the same aura Tina did. Queenie’s footsteps shook the floorboards and he felt her put her hand over his shoulder before the darkness consumed him again.


	2. Absence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back! I've written ahead without a real way to mark chapters, so this may seem a bit choppy and weird. Sorry! I hope you enjoy, and remember, review!

Tina’s heart was pounding. Her entire body ached, and she shivered with each breath she took. Around her, the other people who had been stolen were weeping and crying, one man continued to pound on the wall in a slow, odd tempo. He knew it was hopeless. 

Tina tried to see if any other wizards or witches had been taken. But she could only feel her own magic gently pricking at her skin. Tears kept threatening to leak from her eyes, but she tried to hold them back. She remembered Newt’s face as he was pulled from the back of the transport vehicle. She was terrified for him, having seen the man shoot him in the back. Her lips still tingled from the last kiss she had given him-she was praying now that it wasn’t the last she ever got to give him. Their bed had set fire, she remembered. She was terrified for Liam. Their little boy...just born a three months ago. She trusted Newt to save Liam, but the terror of never being able to touch ether of them again was too much to bare. 

Tina pulled her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. She knew that the Nazis had been corralling the Jewish. Most of her clothes had the Star of David sewn on them. She had heard the rumors of the ghettos and the isolation camps, and so she and Newt had been preparing to move out just tomorrow. They planned to go stay with Queenie and Jacob, who were already hiding away in a small cottage by a lakeside-impossible to reach without apparating. Before the Nazis came. 

They were too late. 

Tina squeezed her legs and then let them go. She sat back up, pulling her hands down to her thighs. She stared at her wedding ring. She pulled it close and pressed her lips to it. 

 

Newt opened his eyes with a jolt.

“Newt.” Queenie’s voice was there, her voice shaky. 

Newt turned his head. He was lying on a soft pillow, the mattress sinking and gently cradling his sore body. He felt bandages wrapped around his chest and back, over the gunshot. His head still ached slightly. But he could think. And he could talk. He wasn’t sure if he could move. 

Queenie Kowalski, his sister-in-law, sat on a small chair next to his bed. “Liam’s with Jacob.” She said, wiping her eyes on her sleeve. She looked like she had been crying, her eyes puffy and red. Her belly was rounder than when Newt had last seen her, their next baby growing bigger each day. 

Newt blew out a long breath. “Tina’s gone.” He said it more as if realizing it for the first time. 

Queenie pressed her lips to her wrist, stifling a sob. “You did what you could.” She whispered. 

“It wasn’t enough.” 

“Stop.” She stomped her foot. “The last thing Tina would want is for you to blame yourself.” 

Newt felt hot tears form again. He clenched his teeth, but couldn’t find the strength to lift his arms and cover his eyes. 

Queenie took a deep breath. “I can feel her.” 

Newt looked over to her sharply.

Queenie nodded, reading his thoughts. “I know where she is. She’s being moved fast, but not so fast that we can’t catch up.” Queenie stood. She took a deep breath, then pulled her wand out from her pocket. “Expecto Patronum.” 

A blue light formed at the tip of Queenie’s wand. Newt watched, transfixed as a full blown Patronus appeared. It’s whispering blue light was bright enough to completely smother the lamp’s yellow light. The patronus danced as it circled around the room. 

“Wow. I didn’t know you could perform this spell.” Newt breathed. 

Queenie smiled at him, then clicked her tongue softly. Her patronus faced her, attentive and ready. “Find Teenie. Tell her we’re on our way. Tell her that Liam is safe.” Queenie looked over to Newt, her eyes glowing in the light of the Patronus. “And that Newt is fine as well.” 

The patronus dipped its head and jumped through the wall, vanishing and taking the blue light with them. The light from the single lamp returned. “She’ll need that.” Queenie sighed. She reached up and put her hand over Newt’s forehead. Her expression was torn-Newt was no Legilimens, but he could read expressions. 

“How bad is she hurting?” He demanded. 

Queenie took a sharp intake of breath, and covered her mouth. She took a minute, then looked up. “Very badly. I don’t think it’s all physical.” 

Newt felt another tear roll from his eyes. “I have to help her.” He started to sit up, and immediately the world spun around him. He fell back onto the mattress with a huff and a groan. 

“Easy. Tina will never forgive you if you run yourself to death for her.” Queenie’s voice was sharp. When Newt could see again, he realized she was standing over his bedside table, her face one that was much like the face Dumbledore used to make at him whenever he tried to defend why he had that silver egg under his pillow. Let me handle this. Be quiet, it said. 

“Besides, you have a certain young son who needs you.” She moved her hand away and sat back down slowly, her belly definitely not making it easy for her. Newt remembered Tina’s pregnancy all too well. Both the Goldstein sisters were very apt to morning sickness, sore backs, swollen feet, and a general harsh pregnancies. Tina had sworn to Newt almost nightly that if they ever wanted another child, they would adopt one. 

A pang shot through Newt, and this one wasn’t from his injuries. He took a shaky breath, trying to keep calm. “Queenie, you can hear Tina’s thoughts, right?” 

Queenie nodded. “Always.” 

“Can she hear yours?” 

“Only if I really, really try.” Queenie reached over and began pushing at his palm until he opened his fingers for her to hold. “I’ve already sent the Patronus.” 

Newt held back the sentence he wanted to say. I want it to tell her I love her. 

Queenie smiled. “I think she already knows that, don’t you?” 

Newt looked over at his in-law with a soft smile, another tear rolling down his face. “I miss her. It’s only been a few hours, and I miss her.” 

Queenie gave a small sigh through a breathy exhale. She wiped at her face, then reached over and wiped at Newt’s as well. “Just knowing they’re gone is enough. It means you miss them with both your mind and your heart.” 

Newt sniffed, then smiled and turned his palm up. Queenie read his mind and threaded her fingers through his.

Queenie took a breath. “Tomorrow, if you’re physically up for it, you and I will head to the ministry. We’ll send out a request to find her. Teenie’s such an invaluable auror at the office, they’ll send out only their best.” 

Newt looked up at the witch. “You and I both know that’s not all we’re doing.” 

Queenie cast a small grin. “No, it’s not.” She took a deep breath. “Nothing crazy. Do you understand that, Newt Scamander?” 

Newt didn’t have to anything more than look at his inlaw. 

The witch sighed. “I have a small idea.” She stood. “If we can get Tina her wand…” 

Newt nodded slightly, as too much movement sent the world askew in his vision again. “She can handle anything.” 

Queenie took a deep breath. She stood and grasped the wand on the bedside table. As Queenie held it, the wand was shown in the light. Newt recognized it as Tina’s immediately. “We’d need to find something fast enough to get us to her.”

Newt thought, then smiled. “Thestrals.” Weakly, he reached for Tina’s wand. Queenie pressed it to his palms.

“What?” Queenie looked at New, with that glossy look on her eyes to show she was reading his mind. “Oh. Well, I don’t know if I can handle that...But I’ll try.” 

Newt frowned. “You shouldn’t come. You’re what, now five months?” He squeezed Tina’s wand. 

Queenie nodded. “We’ll discuss it more in the morning.” She waved away what he was about to respond, and instead smiled. “Dougal took mighty fine care of Liam for you.” Queenie stood. “Jacob and I can handle feeding your beasts for tonight.” She reached for Tina’s wand, but Newt pulled it close to his chest. 

“I’m-terribly sorry, but...just for tonight...may I rest with it?” Newt asked. 

Queenie’s eyes shifted in the way they did when she was reading a mind. Then she smiled sadly. A little awkwardly because of her stomach, she leaned over and pressed her lips into Newt’s forehead. She pulled back after a minute, her eyes watering. “Only if I get it tomorrow.” 

Newt grinned as Queenie straightened with a sigh, her hands holding her back. “It’ll be back in Tina’s possession by then.” 

Queenie smiled. “I like that attitude. If you need him, Liam is just across the hallway with Marie.” 

“I can’t thank you enough.” 

“Anything for you.” Queenie smiled. “Have a good night.” She opened the door and raised her wand. She flicked it at the lamp and it snuffed itself out. The only light remaining was the hallway and the moonlight seeping through the window. 

“Good night.” Newt managed. 

Queenie closed the door. 

Newt pressed Tina’s wand against his forehead. He inhaled, desperate for even just a small scent of her. Instead, the wand gave Newt a rush of a feeling, exerting her magic just a little-just enough to let Newt feel as if she was lying next to him. She-or, more specifically, Tina’s magic-ran her hands over her face, gently brushing at his hair and down his jawline. He felt something like her breath graze his ear, though he could hear no exhale. The feeling of her lips pressed against his cheek finally pushed the liquid from his eyes out. The warm line of the tears broke the illusion. Newt sobbed silently as the last of her magic pulled back into the wand.


	3. Beginning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure why, but I can't get the spacing to work out? I swear it looks fixed on my phone, so I post the edited chapters and they just go right back to where they were I'm so sorry it's horrible to look at ughhhh. Anyways, sorry for the delay on this chapter. I had an amazing adventure over spring break that took up all my time and then left me with a really bad cold. I'm still somewhat recovering, but I managed enough brain power for this baby! Hope you enjoy, and remember, review!

Tina wasn’t sure when she drifted off. The night was long and cold, and she awoken to the door being harshly ripped open. Sunlight poured over her like freshly melted gold-the heat included.  
    “Out.” The man grunted. He grasped her arm and literally pulled her from the car. She just barely managed to stumble to her feet. When she looked up, she wasn’t too surprised to see the fenced walls of a ghetto. The houses were poor and shoddy, some had holes in the walls. Tina stumbled as a rough hand shoved her forward. All around her, people were being shepherded into the gates.  
    She tried to remain calm. Trying to ignore the fact she was still only in her nightgown, she walked towards the ghetto. She could escape this. She knew she could. And seeing all the frightened faces around her as the crowd was shuffled towards the gates with her, she had hope that a few of them were wizards and witches. Maybe some of them were hiding their wands.  
    A man stepped up on a box with a megaphone and began shouting in German at them. Tina had been trying to learn. Unlike Newt, however, she did not have a natural aptitude for languages. The best she could decipher, they were to live here. They had to wear something-Tina guess it was another Star of David.  
    Sure enough, as they were literally pushed into the closed off neighborhood, a man was passing out little armbands. Tina was handed an armband with the Star of David crudely sewn into it. With a sigh, she slipped it over her bicep. The man watched her. She met his eyes. What she saw made fear grip her. Her auror instincts kept her feet firmly planted on the ground.  
    The man raised an eyebrow. He asked her a question in Germanic. Tina simply walked forward into the ghetto, holding his gaze until she couldn’t any more. As she looked away, she took a deep breath.  
    The man’s eyes were full of hatred.  
    Concerned murmurs and whispers were the only sound in the air. Tina was taking in her new surroundings when a cry made her jump to attention. She turned around to see a young boy rushing towards the gates. Soldiers were trying to close it, and the little boy was trying to stop them. He cried out in German, pushing his hands against the gates. His hands were bleeding.  
    Mothers gripped their children and pulled away nervously as a soldier shouted something harsh at the boy.  
    The boy shook his head, curly brown hair bouncing. Tears streamed from his brown eyes. He opened his mouth and argued something pleadingly.  
    A soldier matter of factly walked up, and lifted his boot. He pressed it to the boy’s face and kicked, sending the boy flying back into the ghetto. The gates closed with a loud clang, and immediately soldiers locked it.  
    Tina, horrified, rushed forward. She grasped the boy’s shoulders and helped him sit up. She gripped his chin and stared at his face, checking for wounds. She winced when his nose began to bleed. “Well, at least it isn't broken.” She murmured. She tried to smile at the boy.  
    He sniffled and wiped his face, smearing blood on his cheeks. Tina put her hand on his head and pulled at her pajamas sleeve. She wiped around his eyes, using the tears to help wash away the blood. The boy started at her. He couldn’t be more than twelve years old. Tina smiled at him reassuringly, then looked up.  
    From behind the fence, the soldiers started down at them. Their eyes were filled with quiet anger-no, distaste. They looked down at Tina and the boy like they were piles of garbage.  
    “Come.” Tina said. She found the word for follow in Germanic. When she spoke it, the boy jerked his head up in shock. He stammered something, but Tina shook her head. She pulled him up onto his feet and hurriedly pulled him back to the rest of the crowd.  
    A silence fell the ghetto. Tina started around her, keeping her hands on the boy’s shoulders. The air smelled like oil, it was almost suffocating. Tina looked around again. Soldiers were all lined up around the fence. Tia’s eyes fell to one in particular. Unlike the others, he didn’t look at the people like they were worthless. He didn’t look at them at all. He kept his gaze up towards the buildings. Tina scowled. She wasn’t sure whether it was worse to be looked at like filth, or to not be looked at all.  
    The gates opened again. Tina had to catch the boy as he tried to make a run for it. She felt horrible-she could understand the need to run. But if he had run forward, he would only be attacked again. The gates were only opened enough for one man to step through, and step through he did. The man studied them. Tina was expecting him to take out a handkerchief and start breathing through it. He didn’t, he just started to speak loudly in German.  
    Tina couldn’t keep up with his words, but under her hands the boy began to cry again. She squeezed his shoulders.  
    “They are saying we are to wait here until...until they know...what to do with…” The boy suddenly spoke. His English was imperfect, and he gestured around them to all the people around them.  
    “Us.” Tina supplied.  
    The boy nodded. “Yes.”  
    Tina took a deep breath. She closed her eyes and reached out with her senses. She opened her magic, very gently. The shouts of the Germanic officer faded in her ears.  
    Her magic touched with the magic of four others. Three were random in the crowd, but she could pick them out. The other rested right under her hands.  
    She opened her eyes again with a deep breath. Her hands held tight to the boy in front of her.  
    The officer had finished speaking. He took a look around, then turned and walked out. The gates slammed shut again. 

    Tina found residence with the young boy. They shared a bedroom, no bigger than a walk in closet. The bed was a single, with a flimsy mattress and no pillow. There was a window blocked by a another house. Two curtains dangled lifelessly over the single pane, the glass smudged. A light bulb hung from a chain in the center of the room. Tina wasn’t sure how to turn it on. But that was a problem for later. She sat the boy down on the bed and faced him. His nose had stopped bleeding after Tina had ripped her pajama sleeve off to use as a handkerchief of sorts. She crossed her legs and sighed. “What’s your name?” She asked.  
    The boy thought, then jolted. “Oh! Abelard.” He pointed to his chest. “Abelard.”  
    “Abelard.” Tina nodded. She pointed to her own chest. “My name is Tina.”  
    “Tina.” Abelard repeated. His lips quavered slightly. “Tina.” He repeated it again.  
    “Yes.” Tina nodded.  
    Abelard took a shaky breath. He asked a question in Germanic. Tina got the jist of it though. How could they do this?  
    Tina pursed her lips as Abelard took a shaky breath. She turned her body and held her hand out, palm up. Abelard gripped it tightly and leaned into her shoulder. He began to sob quietly. “I miss...mother.” He managed. “Father...father was not moving.” He pantomimed with his free hand the shape of a gun.  
    Tina’s breath hitched. She reached over and pulled Abelard’s head to her shoulder. “We’ll be alright.” She murmured. She couldn’t think of the Germanic words she needed to say. So she murmured the English ones.  
    Abelard’s hair was dirty. It curled in a way that reminded Tina of Newt.  
    She had to repress a sob of her own.  
    “It’s okay.” She told Abelard. Though she didn’t think it was. 

    Abelard soon cried himself to sleep. Tina gently set him on the bed. After a minute of deliberating, she pulled the curtains down. She lied one over Abelard as a sort of blanket. She tied the other one around her shoulders. As she suspected, there was no change in the light. Tina took a breath, then left the room. The light was fading when she stepped back outside. The air still smelled rancid, and now the general murmur of apprehension had been silenced.  
    Tina closed her eyes and extended her magic again, standing outside the too-full house and looking around the enclosed neighborhood. She searched for those other few that had magic. She wasn’t sure what to do about Abelard, if he knew of his own power yet or what.  
    The closest magic to prick her skin came from the main courtyard, where they had originally been pushed into. She headed that way, her bare feet squishing into puddles of mud that made her shiver. The curtain was a poor conductor of heat, and it kept being pulled away from her by the breeze. Stubbornly, she marched forward.  
    A elderly man was kneeling on the ground, his hands pressed tightly together in prayer. He had little to no hair on his head, instead most of it growing as a beard. His hair was brown, streaked with gray hairs. He was one of the few here that had been dressed when they had captured him, Tina guessed. He wore a coat that was a size too small for him draped listlessly over his shoulders. He was wearing trousers and a tight belt, his shirt tucked underneath that belt. He had a long, golden necklace dangling from his neck. Tina was pretty sure it was a locket of some sort. Tina hesitated. She didn’t want to interrupt his prayer, but before she could decide what to do he looked up, then back at her.  
           “Ah, you are magic as well.” He spoke, his voice cracking with age.  
           Tina sighed in relief. “You speak English?”  
           “Enough.” He beckoned her to come over with him.  
           She sat down next to him, putting her legs underneath her. “My name is Tina.”  
           “I am Markel.” He reached his hand out and Tina shook it. With a little bit of a bitter smile, he gestured around them. “It is a nice place, yes?”  
           Tina smiled at the sarcasm. She noticed he had an armband like hers, with the Star of David crudely sewn into the fabric. Then she studied Markel’s eyes. Wrinkled with age, they gleamed brown with a depth of hidden red. They seemed to shake with passion, despite his relaxed composure, he was determined-Tina could work with this man. “We have to get out of here. Do you have your wand?”  
           Markel sighed. “Not here.” Tina’s heart sank, before Markel got to his feet. “We go somewhere out of sight.” He held a hand to help her up.  
           Tina took it but barely used it to push herself from the ground. Markel hobbled towards the houses. They slipped between two of them and Tina realized that all the houses this close together had a sort of labyrinth of alleys. Mentally, she began mapping their progress and marking out each house from the other. This could be a great place to hide if things got chaotic.  
           Somewhere in the middle of the labyrinth, Markel stopped and reached into his back pocket. He pulled out two broken bits of a wand.  
           Tina’s heart had lifted during their walk, and now it sank again. Tentatively, she reached over and grasped one piece.  
           “The soldiers were not all muggles.” He frowned. “They took my wand and broke it, then let me keep the pieces.”  
           Tina studied the broken half of the wand. With a sigh, she handed it back. She was trained in wandless magic, but she was not so profound that she could apparate. “I am sorry. Markel.” Her wand was back in their house, if it hadn’t burned down. She had a feeling Newt had it with him, wherever he was. If she could find just one working wand!.  
           Markel managed a small smile and put the broken wand bits back into his pocket. “I want to try and…fix.” He hesitated for a minute, searching for the right word.  
           Tina nodded. “I understand. Did you sense the other wizards?”  
           Markel nodded. “You.” He counted. “Theresa and Hann. One other.”  
           “Abelard.” Tina supplied. “He’s only a boy.” She indicated his height, and Markel’s face lost a little color.  
           “Not good.” He gestured around them, a cold wind blowing from behind Tina and sending his jacket flying behind him.  
           Tina shivered, then brushed her hair back behind her ear. “Do you think this has something to do with Grindelwald?”  
           Markel closed his eyes sadly and nodded. “It must be.”  
           “Why would he be targeting only Jewish wizards, though?” Tina’s mind reeled. She leaned against the side of a house, staring at a plastic bag stuck to a puddle of mud. “He’s never cared about religion, only half-bloods. Markel, are you…”  
           “Half…blood?” Markel repeated the words, then jerked. “Ah, yes. Mother was a muggle-born.”  
           “Alright, that makes sense.” Tina nodded to herself. “It makes sense that I was captured. But my husband…Newt was the one who actually stopped Grindelwald. Why didn’t they try and take him, too?”  
           “We are with muggles.” Markel pointed out. “If he is working with Hitler, he must obey Hitler’s laws.”  
           “Still, he wouldn’t miss the opportunity to kill Newt.” A chill ran down Tina’s back, remembering the Killing Curse her husband had just barely been able to fend off with that spell last night. The curse had been used as a sort of back up, just to get him to stop fighting against them. Tina got the cold feeling that she was part of some sort of plan. “And there were more wizards and witches in my town…Markel, you are from-“ She butchered the German name of the town, she knew. She winced to herself and desperately wished she had Newt’s tongue.  
           Markel nodded. “We came from same place.”  
           Tina bit her lip. “I didn’t even know.”  
           Markel shrugged and waved his hand through the air. “Ah, I am not a good neighbor.”  
           Tina smiled a little. She had found a comrade in this elder wizard, and she was eternally grateful. “I don’t know about that.”  
           She heard a shout and jumped, but the shout fell away without any other noise.  
           “Come on. Let’s go find Theresa and Hann.” Tina reached her hand out and held Markel’s as they made their way back through the labyrinth.


End file.
